EVOLUTION OF THE GARDEN 23 



Upon her head a crimson coronet, 

 With daffodils and damask roses set; 



Bay leaves between, 



And primeroses green, 

 Embellish the sweet violet. 



So fond was the Queen of gardens that Sir Philip 

 Sidney could think of no better way to please her 

 than to arrange his masque of the "May Lady" so 

 that it would surprise her when she was walking in 

 the garden at Wanstead in Essex. Then, too, in 

 1591, when visiting Cowdry, Elizabeth expressed a 

 desire to dine in the garden. A table forty-eight 

 yards long was accordingly laid. 



The Tudor mansions were constantly growing in 

 beauty. Changes and additions were made to some 

 of them and many new palaces and manor-houses 

 were erected. Architects among them John 

 Thorpe and landscape gardeners now planned the 

 pleasure-grounds to enhance the beauty of the man- 

 sion they had created, adapting the ideas of the 

 Italian Renaissance to the English taste. The 

 Elizabethan garden in their hands became a setting 

 for the house and it was laid out according to a 

 plan that harmonized with the architecture and con- 

 tinued the lines of the building. The form of the 

 garden and the lay-out of the beds and walks were 



